George Spangenberg
Encyclopedia
George Spangenberg was head of aircraft design in NAVAIRSYSCOM.
He participated in the design and development of the original VFX/F-14 Tomcat
,
and selection of the YF-17 and design of the F/A-18 Hornet
for the US Navy.
He has posted memoirs of this experiences on the web of how the F-14 Tomcat
was designed to rectify the lack of maneuverability and performance of the F-111B. Jim Foster, a U.S. Navy fighter pilot who commanded a group specifically charged with developing Navy aircraft, states that Spangenberg believes that the Hornet can or should not have been scaled up to replace the Tomcat, and that the Navy could have done better than being forced to chose one of the Lightweight Fighter entries. Both Foster and Spangenberg believe the further development of the Hornet and Super Hornet over the Grumman Tomcat was made as primarily a political decision at the cost of combat capability.
He died on November 13, 2000 in an automobile accident.
He participated in the design and development of the original VFX/F-14 Tomcat
F-14 Tomcat
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental program following the collapse of the F-111B project...
,
and selection of the YF-17 and design of the F/A-18 Hornet
F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable multirole fighter jet, designed to dogfight and attack ground targets . Designed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop, the F/A-18 was derived from the latter's YF-17 in the 1970s for use by the United States Navy and...
for the US Navy.
He has posted memoirs of this experiences on the web of how the F-14 Tomcat
F-14 Tomcat
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental program following the collapse of the F-111B project...
was designed to rectify the lack of maneuverability and performance of the F-111B. Jim Foster, a U.S. Navy fighter pilot who commanded a group specifically charged with developing Navy aircraft, states that Spangenberg believes that the Hornet can or should not have been scaled up to replace the Tomcat, and that the Navy could have done better than being forced to chose one of the Lightweight Fighter entries. Both Foster and Spangenberg believe the further development of the Hornet and Super Hornet over the Grumman Tomcat was made as primarily a political decision at the cost of combat capability.
He died on November 13, 2000 in an automobile accident.